Pea-separating machine.



.' G. F. SHUMAKER. PEA SEPABATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED Mlm, 1908 9665169. Patented De@.8,19o8.

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m H m G N H An R A D.. E S A E P Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

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PEA SEPARATING MACHINE. APPLICATION-FILED JAN. 2, 1908.

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iinrrnn srnirirs rnfrnnr carica CHARLES F. SHUMAKER, OF SILVER CREEK, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO INVINCIBLE GRAIN CLEANER COMPANY, OF SILVER CREEK, NEW YORK.

PEA-SEPARATING MACHEN E Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

Application led January 2, 1908. Serial No. 408,874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it -known that I, CHARLES Ff. SHU- MAKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Silver Creek, in the county of Cha-utauqua and State of New York, have invented a new and useful improvement in Pea- Separating-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Thls invention relates more machines of that type used lfor separating Whole eas from broken peas and particles of hulls,. eaves or other foreign matter mixed therewith, in which the mixed material is fed u on a travelin belt or se ara-ting surface particularly to w. ich is incline transverse y as regards its, direction of movement, whereb the Whole peas roll down the inclined surface and are ischar ed over the lower side edge :of -the same W ile the broken peas and articles Iof foreign matter which do not rea 'ly roll are carried along by the belt and dlscharged therefrom at one end of the machine as the belt passes around one of its supporting rollers.

While the machine is more especially de signed for separating hulled green lpeas for canning purposes, it is 4not necessarily restricte to suchuse, but can be employed for separating round or smooth rains, seeds or ot er particles which will rea ily roll or slide down an inclined surface from flat and irre ular-sha ed and rou h particles which wil not rea ily roll or side down the inclined surface. l

The object of 'the invention is to improve machines of this type so as to increase their efficiency and render them readily adaptable 'for operation upon materials differing more ticles lof foreign mattei' and caused to roll -down the inclined selparating surface.

The fingers or teet are slender and spaced fnom each other and separated from the surface of the beltso as not to obstruct too much the travel of the material with the belt, but

the sepa-y lse arated from the surface such a distance t changed at any time as may be .required by reason of the condition or characteristics of the material being operated upon to secure a perfect separation, and the construction of the machine is 'otherwise improved the respeots hereinafter described and set forth in t e claims.

In `the accompanying drawings, consisting of three sheets: Figure 1 is a front elevation of 'a separating machine embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 8 is a rear elevation thereof. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional elevation thereof. Fig. -5 is a transverse sectional elevation thereof, in line 5 5, Fig. 2. F ig. 6 is a sectional elevation, on an enlarged scale, of 'a portion of the feed hopper and associated parts of the machine. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary front elevation, partly in section, of the agitating device and feed hopper. Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the separating belt and one of the combs or rakes.

Like letters of reference refer in the several figures.

A represents the main frame of the machine, which may be of any suitable construction, `the frame shown being of rectangular skeleton form composed of upright corner posts a connected by upper and lower side and end bars a.

B represents theseparating belt or apron. An endless belt composed of rubber fabric is preferably employed and passes around two inclined supporting rollers b bf located near the opposite ends of the machine. The

shafts b2 of the belt rollers are journaled at opposite ends in suitable bearings b3 on a frame C which is pivotally and adjustably supported in the stationary main frame so that its front edge can be raised or lowered to vary the inclination of the separating belt or apron as may be required, depending upon the nature of thev material being operated upon.

In the machine shown, the pivoted frame consists of front and rearhorizontal bars c connected by end bars cand an inclined board or table c2 which is located beneathtween the belt rollers.

and supports the upper run of the separating belt to prevent the same from sagging be- The end` bars are slotted or composed of two strips-with an intervening space for the passage of the upper run of the belt, and the front bar is similarly constructed to provide an opening for the escape of the peas which roll down the inclined surface of the belt. The frame bars cr stripsextending above the upper run of the belt form a sort of boX around the separating surface to prevent the scattering of the material. The rear bar of the pivoted frame is provided at opposite ends with pivots or trunnions-d which rest in bearings d on the rear posts of the main frame, and the front side of the pivoted frame is suspended by links e from the upper front bar a/ of the main frame. The upper ends of these links are screw-threaded and extend up through openings in the bar a/ of the main frame and through adjusting nuts e which bear upon the .bar a and are provided with handles whereby they can be turned on the links to raise or lower the front edge of the pivoted frame. The adjusting nuts e are conveniently located and can be readily operated at any time to properly regulate the inclination of the separating surface.

The shaft of one of the belt rollers extends rearwardly beyond its bearing and is provgard -to the machine,

vided with a beveled gear wheelf, Figs. 2 and 3, which meshes with a beveled pinion f on a shaft F. This shaft is journaled in suitable bearings on the rear -bar of the pivote'd frame, and is provided at one end with a sprocket wheel g connected by a sprocket chain g toa sprocket wheel g2 journaled parallel with the shaft F in suitable beai'ings on the main frame and is provided' with a belt. pulley ga or other means for driving it. This arrangement of the drive mechanism for the 'separating belt enables the pivoted frame to be adjusted to regulate Athe inclination ofthe belt without' interfering 1n any wise with the driving mechanism,'and the belt can be adjusted without stopping the operation of the machine.

represents a feed hopper of any suitable form supported by the pivoted frame and having a discharge throat arranged to feed the peas or other material upon the upper portion of the separating belt near one end thereof. .'The throat of the hopper referably has a bottom board h, Fig. 6, w ich is inclined downwardly and forwardly with re- 4 and a vfront discharge opening so as to discharge the material in a stream or sheet directed forwardly, or in the directio'n of the downward inclination of the separating surface, so as to thereby spread the materialevenly and im art to it a tendencyy to roll or slide down t e inclined separatin surface. The material is agitated in the throat of the hopper toprevent it from on a drive shaft G which is- I clogging, by suitable means. For this purpose an agitating bar I is arranged to slide lengthwise at the front side of the throat in suitable bearings on the ends of the throat, and is provided with depending fingers or rods havin upturned ends which extend up through t e discharge. opening into the throat. The agitator bar is reciprocated by a link c connected to a crank wheel 7c secured to a shaft k2 which is journaledin a suitable bearing 7c3 on the rear bar of the pivoted frame and is pinion c* meshing with a beveled secured to the shaft F.

I L represents the combs or rakes, which are arranged transversel or foie and aft of the machine, over, the upper run of the separating belt and have depending slender ngers,- tines or teeth. The combs or rakes are conveniently secured at their ends on top of the front and rear bars of the pivotedframe, and their fingers or teeth are preferably made of relatively slender wires. The lower ends of the fingers or teeth are referably se arated l from the separating surflilce of the bell'J a dis- I tance less than the diameter of the lwhole peas or seeds to be operated" u on, but greater than the height of the bro en peas, seeds or particles to be separated whole peas tor seeds, so that the teeth allow the broken peas or seeds and thin or flat particles to travel freely beneath them with the belt while more or less preventing the whole peas or seeds from being carried past them by the belt. The lingers or teeth are also preferably arranged closer together over the rear or upper portion of the separating surface than over the remaining portion thereof, so that the whole peas on suchupper portion `of the separating surface cannot pass through the combs or rakes but will be stirred oi ag'- tated and caused to inove down the inclined surface, or bc spread outmore uniformly over the width of-the belt. -The ngers or teeth over the greater portion of the width of the belt are not laced so close together as to revent the who e peas or seeds from passing etween them, but t'he whole peas lwill not pass the fingersl or teeth withoutv striking them and the teeth will shift the peas so as to pinion Yks provided with a beveledv from the 'I should they become entrapped by broken revented from rolling. The fingers or l teet are resilient enough to be set vibrating slightly by the contact of the material therewith, and. this vibration assists in the agitating or stirring action of the fingers or teeth. The combs or rakes are preferably arranged obliquely, as shown, as the whole peas, due to the motion of bhe belt, roll across the saine of the peas. iingers or teeth of the the separating surface in oblique paths and the combs areless a t- It will lpeas or foreignparticles, or for other reasonsl and the broken eas and thin or Hat articles can pass free y beneath them and o not have to force their Way past the combs, the combs siin ly acting to move or stir the eas or materia sufficiently to enable the roiling of the Whole peas down the inclined surface.

Suitable discharge chutes or spouts M and m are supported by the pivoted frame at the front side and one end thereof to receive respectively the Whole peas and tailings or foreign matter and direct the same into suitable receptacles.

'n 1 1. represent iiexible scrapers supported by the ivoted frame beneath the lower run of the elt and bearing against the surface thereof for removing particles which may ad* here to the belt and fall into the .tailing chute. Y

l claim as my invention:

1. The combination of a traveling separating surface which is inclined transversely to its direction of movement and upon which the material to be separated is fed, and one or more combs arranged over said separating surface and having slender spaced teeth Which depend toward said surface but terminate far enough above the same to allow the flatter or thinner particles of material traveling with the separating surface to pass freely beneath the teeth Without deflecting them, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of a traveling endless apron which is inclined transversely to its directi on of movement and upon Which the material to be separated is fed, and one or more combs arranged over said separating surface and having slender teeth Which are spaced the material upon the separating surface,and

one or more combs arranged over said sepa-- rating surface and having slender spaced teeth which depend toward said surfacevbut terminate far enough above the same to allow the flatter or thinner particles of material traveling With the separating surface to pass freely beneath the teeth, the teeth over the upper portion of said separating surface being arranged closer together than the remaining teeth, substantially as set forth.

Witness my hand, this 26th day of December, 1907.

CHARLES 'F. SHUMAKER.

Witnesses: Y

CARL W. GRAsHo, ELGIN KEITH.J 

